Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 8.djvu/221

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THE APRIL BOMBARDMENT. 189 and rearm the two White Redoubts thus strangely C HA P. left under his sway. We next come to the Malakoff Tower ; but re- The Maia- > n £ l. a - i koff covered garded as an 'objective for the fire of the April by counter- ° approaches, bombardment, this Work, though not spared alto- and not ° r therefore aether, was of course for the moment a less pro- strongly ° assailed. vocative target than that bold Kamtchatka Lun- ette which had sprung up to cover its front. This Lunette, as we have seen, was confronted, The Kamt- chatka and even in siege- form ' approached/ by a part of Lunette ° rr J r brought tc Canrobert's army ; whilst also the Work was so ruin, circumstanced that it could be assailed by the French with their ' Artilleur ' range of great guns established on the slopes of Mount Inkerman, and on the other flank by no less than nine English batteries pouring fire of great power from the pre- cincts of ' Gordon's Attack.' By this strong and concentrated fire the Lunette was ' cruelly tried ' the first day of the bombardment, and brought to a state of sheer ruin ; * but, the French not Not, how- ever, as- assaulting it, the Work was restored at night ; sauitedby ° J ° ' the French ; and thenceforth, although mightily plied by ver- tical fire, it was less torn by round-shot.t There were signs — and the signs proved true guides — but star ap- that the French would not promptly assault the by r t°he C ir e sap. Work ; for they continued to approach it by sap.j In all their artillery efforts against the Great complete

° failure of 

Redan our people — and with them mainly rested the English r r J batteries this part of the task — may simply be said to have against the

  • Todlebeu, p. 109. t Ibid., pp. 127, 132.

X Ibid., pp. 140, 143.